Can opener



T. A. LONG Y Nov. 12, 1946.

CAN OPENER Filed Sept. 4, 1944 Patented Nov. 12, 1946 A*UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFlcE 2,411,099 CAN OPENER Thomas A. Long, Hammond, Ind.

Application September 4, 1944, Serial No. 552,585

7 Claims. 1

A considerable effort has been extended heretofore in making can openers more reliable and satisfactory. The most satisfactory ones have been those which included a crank carried by a bracket extending out from a wall or other mounting surface. In addition to the crank, such can openers included a piercing lever which moved the cutting blade to produce the initial cutting of the can. It has been recognized that the extending bracket was sometimes objectionable and various expedients have been worked out for minimizing this objection, as for example, by having the bracket swing into parallelism with the wall when not in use.

One object of the present invention is to provide a satisfactory can opener which operates entirely by movement of the crank. This movement operates the cutter blade to cause the initial piercing of the can as well as rotating the can against the cutter blade. This is accomplished according to the preferred form of the present invention by arranging a pin on the crank which is so disposed as to engage a lever operating the cutter blade. The initial movement of the crank actuates the cutter blade which is then held out of engagement with the pin by the pressure of the rotating can thereon as the crank continues to be rotated to turn the can.

Reverse rotation of the crank withdraws the cutter blade from the can.

Another object of the invention is to completely eliminate the objectionable extending bracket. This is accomplished by the extremely simple expedient of putting the crank and the cutter on the same side of the supporting plate and locating them suiciently far apart so that the can does not interfere with the rotation of the crank. Of course the knurled wheel driving the can is driven by a train of gears or the like. This might seem to be introducing complications which would be too expensive, but gears for this purpose can be simple stampings and hence the cost is not prohibitive. Furthermore, the gearing can give a mechanical advantage to the crank which permits using a fairly short crank and still having it turn easily enough-to be operated from any position.

Another object of the invention is toprovide a can opener which is suitable for mounting on a hinged door, such as the door of the cabinet in which the cans are kept. According to the present invention, this is` accomplished largely by the feature last mentioned and by keeping the entire assembly quite close to the surface on which it is mounted. The result is that when a can opener is mounted on a hinged door, the plane of rotation of the handle coincides nearly enough with the pivotal axis of the hinge of the door so that turning of the handle produces very little torque tending to swing the door. Hence the door may be kept steady either by a very little force applied with the other hand, or by pressing it to the fully opened position so that a slight axial pressure on the handle of the crank holds the door pressed against the adjacent wall or other stop. The compactness of the opener also keeps it from taking up any objectionable amount of space within the cabinet when the door is closed.

Additional objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description and from the drawing in which Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the form of the invention chosen for illustration;

y Fig. 2 is a vertical, sectional view taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1 but showing the position of the parts after the crank has been'turned slightly more than one revolution; p 1

Fig. 4 isa fragmentary, side elevational view of a modification of the invention.

. Although the law requires a full and exact description of at least one form of the invention, such as that which follows, it is, of course, the purpose of a patent to cover each new inventive concept therein no matter how it may be disguised by variations in form or additions of further improvements; and the appended claims are intended to accomplish this purpose by particularly pointing out the parts, improvements, or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found. Y

In the illustratedV form of the invention, the can opener includes a knurled drive wheel I0, cutter blade II and a crank I2 all of which are carried by a base plate I3 having suitable perforations I4 for receiving mounting screws. The crank I 2 drives a pinion I6 rigid therewith which in turn drives idler pinions I'I, the last of which drives pinion I8 which in turn drives knurled wheel I 0 which is rigid therewith. The crank I2 bears a pin 2| which engages the upper end of lever 22, the lower end of which forms the cutting `blade II .1 Y

The operation of the can opener is as follows:

'Ihe starting position is shown in Fig. 1. A can 23 is slipped under the cutter blade I I and rested with its rim on knurled roller Ill. The operator then grasps the handle 24 of crank I2 and rotates 3 the crank. Near the end of the first revolution, the pin 2| strikes the lever 22 near its upper end and urges it in a counterlockwise direction to press the cutter blade I I down through the cap of the can to the position shown in Fig. 3. The pin 2l then slips past the lever 22, the movement of which is limited by a stop pin 2S. The rotation of the knurled wheel I turns the can forcing it to rotate against cutting blade Il, thus cutting the top of the can around theperiphery thereof. The pressure of the can against cutting blade I I holds the lever 22 against the pin '25. When the can cover has been slit the desired distancem* around its periphery, the crank 22 is turne`d ir, 1 V4 the reverse direction. The initial turning of the crank in the reverse direction rotates the can slightly in the reverse direction applyingVa-force against the back and side of the cutter blade I I to urge it in the clockwise direction and move it at least far enough so. that the pin 2l moving in counterclockwise directionwll engage the left side of lever 22 andpress the lever ina clockwise direction to move the parts back to the starting position shown in Fig. l. Further clockwise movement of the lever 22 maybe prevented by a stop 2l. Optionally thenstop 2l could be resiliently yieldable so that pressure o n the handle 24 would raise the cutter-blade Il a little higher than shown in Fig. lV so as to more completely release the can. t

The parts will Ystay in the position shown` in Fig. 1 until the crank I2 is again actuated and hence the` can opener is ready to receive another can.

It is thus seen that manipulation of the single lever` or crank l2 performs the Whole iob- Furthermore, it. will. be observedthei; tbe plane of rotation of the crank I2 is s o,k close tothe mountine. Suraoe that verylittle bereue will. be exerted by any position in ytliissurface. This makes it practioeble to useebineeddoer es. Support .member and also completely` eliminates j any such trouble es rllrleobt of screws.. or bendingV of parte, Wboh sometimeerreviorslv resulted from the. lerereee supplied .by the bracket extending outwardly from the wall in past can openers.V It is believed the# e111 0f, tbedeieils will be SufficientlyA evident frontiK the drawing. l It may be noted, however,` that .the various! pinionsvor gears may befstamped from Vsheetmetal sof that their cost isextrernely low. `Also they are simple spur ge frs yof'uniform thickness sod that Vif it were desiredto cut them for greater accuracy, they could be gang-cut. The crankV I2 may be made rigid with'the'. pinion Iby means of a threaded studl 3i Awhich may be rigid with veither the crank or the pinion. Iand threaded into the other washers'32 forming the necessary spacers, and the washer 33 also forming a bearing member for bearing engagement with the base plate I3. The assembly of pinion I8 and knurled wheel Ill` is similar except that the larger washer 32 is not required andthe threads on stud 34are left-handedwhile those on stud. 3l are right-handed. As a matter of fact, studs 3I- and 34 can be threaded to both members instead of having a rigid engageinentwith one if preferred,

HIffa cutting wheel 4 Ifis preferred to-a stationary cutting blade, it may be mounted at the bottom of( lever 22, as seen in Fig. 4,

The hardest part of can opening'heretofore has usuallybeen` the initial piercing of thev can. This is'quite easy in the 'present invention. The lever 2-2gives a mechanical advantage of nearly three to wheel, and means responsive to the turning of the crank for engaging the longer arm tol swing the same, thereby causing the cutterV blade to pierce'the can. y

2. A can opener including a base plate, a crank pivotably carried thereby on one side thereof, a cutter blade carried on the same .side of the base plate, and a drive wheel rotatably carried by the base plate and on theY same side thereof, adapted to turn a can against the cutter blade and driven by said crank.

3. A can opener including a base plate, a crank pivotably carried thereby on one side thereof, a cutter blade carried on the same side of the base plate, and adrive wheel rotatably carredby the base plate and on the same side thereor, adapted to turn a can against the cutter blade and driven by said crank, said base plate being shaped to position the crank close to the surface on which the base plate is mounted.

4. A cantopener including a base plate, a crank pivotably carried thereby on one side thereof, a cutter blade carried on the same side of the base plate,l and Va drive wheel rotatably carried bythe base plate and on the same side thereof adapted to,v turn a can against the cutter blade and driven brseol Crank through geara 5; A can opener including a base plate, a crank pivotably carried. thereby on one side thereof, a gutter blade carried ,on the same side of thebase plate, and a drive wheelV rotatably carried by the base plete and on,V the same -side thereof, adapted to` turna can against `thecutter blade andl driven by Said crank; saidcrank being pivotal about an eXLS vabove and. subst:antiallyy further from the drirefwbeeluthen the length of the. crank.

6:, A earl: opener inoludnga base plate', a crank pivotably carried thereby. on. one side thereof, a ouiterfblede eerried on the Same sideorthebase plat fand a drivewheel rotatably carried by the baseplate, andl on the same side thereof, adaptedz te. turn` ax; canagainst` the cutter bladeY and driven Aby-,said crank, said, crank being pivotal about anazris above and substantiallyA further` from the drive wheel` than thev length of the crank and -beingconnected to the driveA wheel throughspeed reducing means to reduce the torque required to turnl the crank.

7, A can opener including a cutter blade carried by a pivoted lever of therst class, a drive Wheel rotatable inv one directionfor turning the can againstthefcutterblade, a crankkfor turning thedrvewheelin said direction, a projection on saidcrank`A- adapted .when the crank is.- turnedv to rotate the drive Wheel in said direction, to engvagefsaidlever and'pivot it in the opposite directipn, td pierce the can,Y with the` cutter-- blade,` the mpvementof; the` canA aguainstvthe cuttery .blade then urgingy the4 lever. further in lthe, same f direction,. ,and.the projection thenclearing`v^ the lever., Y THOMAS A. LONG. 

